Cote Rotie Porchette, Pilon 2022

The 2022 Côte-Rôtie “la Porchette” from Julien Pilon comes in at an even thirteen percent octane in this vintage. The bouquet is bright, complex and precise, wafting from the glass in a blend of cassis, smoked meats, pepper, dark soil tones, just a hint of hazelnut, plenty of upper register smokiness and just a touch of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, elegant and very complex, with a lovely core of fruit, excellent soil signature, ripe, fine-grained tannins and a long, poised and seamlessly balanced finish. At thirteen percent alcohol, this harkens back to the style of Côte-Rôtie that I first fell in love with the 1979 vintage. It will need some bottle age to soften up its tannins, but the wine is so lovingly balanced that it will also drink quite nicely fairly early on in its evolution. 2032-2075